Choose me tonight
by Mimimoon
Summary: What if Luke had regrets after the fight in Teach me tonight? What if Christopher learned that Jess was Luke nephew? What if Lorelai didn't know which one she wanted? LL or LC? Written in collaboration with Laurence JJlolotte or The Evil Twin
1. Accident

Disclaimers: We own nothing because if we did, we would be able to write this fic in the same continent.

Writters: Laurence and Marie-Eve, or JJlolotte and Meve, or The Evil Twin and Mimimoon (choose the one you want).

Special thanks to Angela, our betareader who had a lot of job.

Translation from french: Laurence

**Choose me Tonight**

The situation was bad, really, really bad. Rory was in the hospital, Luke didn't know where Jess was, and Lorelai was following him everywhere yelling hysterically that everything was his fault. Luke couldn't believe that she was blaming him. How could it be his fault? He wasn't the one who drove the car, he didn't ask Jess to drive this car, he didn't even know they took the car and if he had known, he will never have let Jess go. The only thing he did was give a chance to a kid who needed it.

"Where are you going?"

"I have to find out where Jess is."

"Well, I'll tell you where he is not – he is not in the emergency room having his arm plastered up!"

"Hey, I'm sorry about Rory. You know I care more about her than I do myself, but at least you know where Rory is and at least you know that she is okay. Now, I have to find Jess and I have to make sure that he's okay, and if that cuts into your screaming time, well that's just too damn bad."

"GO TO HELL."

"Right back at ya."

Luke was so angry that he couldn't think anymore. He walked away to go find Jess and picked up his pace, playing and replaying tonight's events in his head. "_Go to hell... right back at you_", picturing Lorelai's face. He had really hurt her. Suddenly he felt waves of regret coming. It was true that Lorelai didn't have to treat him like this, but she was frustrated and full of emotion and didn't know what she was saying. He turned to face her, and what he saw broke his heart.

Lorelai had difficulty holding back her tears. First Rory in the hospital and now, Luke. There were too many emotions for one night. When she realized that Luke was going away to find Jess, she turned around in the other direction to head home. Then she saw it. Passing right in front of her, she saw Rory's totally destroyed car being towed to Gypsy's. The front of the car was totally crushed, and she was sure the car wouldn't run anymore. Seeing Rory's car was too much to stand. She lets a few more tears fall, then opened her purse and took out her cell phone to call someone, anyone.

Luke saw Lorelai, totally devastated. He was ashamed of what he said earlier.

"Lorelai..." he shouted, hoping that she would look at him.

But Lorelai didn't answer; she kept playing with her phone to make the call. Luke just came close to her, took her cell phone away, put it back in her bag, and then took her in his arms.

"Lorelai, I'm sorry."

"Luke... my baby..."

" I know," he said, drawing her closer.

"My baby... she could have been... things could have been so much worse."

"Shhh… calm down," whispered Luke, caressing Lorelai's hair.

"And if it were worse? If Rory was... I couldn't... Oh Luke, she could have died!"

"Lorelai, please calm down, Rory is fine, she is in the hospital; she's safe. She's going to be fine," he articulated again.

Luke hugged her tenderly for a few minutes longer when he finally felt Lorelai's body start to relax. He had dreamt a lot about taking Lorelai in his arms, but certainly not under these circumstances. She seemed so fragile at this moment. Luke's heart was broken to see her this way. Rory was the only person in the world for whom Lorelai would give her life.

Of course this accident wasn't that drastic, nothing irreparable but as Rory's mother and best friend, Lorelai played out every conceivable scenario in her head.

Lorelai pulled away from Luke and dried her tears with the back of her hand. She realized what she had said to Luke earlier, the words that she used:" _Go to hell!_" She was so angry that she didn't think about what she was saying. She kicked herself for what she had said…Luke didn't deserve that, he had always been there for her, and for Rory. How could she yell at her best friend that way? He always made time for her and what she needed. Lorelai knew that Luke loved her and Rory as much, or even more than his own family… his own family: Jess.

Lorelai was ready to apologize, but Luke spoke first:

"It's late. Do you want me to walk you home?"

"No, thanks. I'll be okay."

"Are you sure?"

"... Oh my god, what time is it?"

"Nine-thirty."

"I have to go back to the hospital, Rory had to have some X-rays. She's probably done by now."

"Oh, of course, go... do you want me to drive you?" Luke asked. He didn't want to let her go in this state.

"No, no thank you, I have my car."

"Oh, okay."

"Yeah, I really need to go now," she said, knowing perfectly well that they would have to talk about tonight's fight. But not now. Rory came first.

"Bye", she said. And without thinking, Lorelai gave Luke a sweet gentle kiss on the lips and went to her car.

Luke stood there frozen, unable to move.

"Okay, you've got your TV, you've got your books, your magazines, your refreshments, you have your CD player, your assorted CDs. Stan Freberg, Ash, you have your Sinead O'Connor – because when life really gets you down, Sinead's really the one to teach you some perspective. You have a pad of paper in case you decide to write the great American novel. And over here you have a tiny but annoying bell in case there's something here that you need but you don't have and you want to summon the common but lovely house wench who will promptly leave her talking mice and come to fetch the Contessa whatever she may require."

"I think what Contessa requires right now is sleep."

"Is your arm hurting you?" Lorelai asked, a bit worried.

"Unh uh, but the stuff they gave me at the hospital made me a little dopey."

"My little Marianne Faithful. Scooch down now and go to sleep."

Lorelai started to move a chair and put it in the corner of the room.

"What are you doing?"

"Just a little feng shui; go to sleep." she replied, taking a pillow and a blanket.

"Mom, you don't have to sleep in here tonight."

"I know, I just think the chair looks nice here."

"And what's the blanket for?"

"In case the chair gets cold."

"And the pillow?"

"To keep the blanket company."

"Uh huh."

"Okay, everything's in its place. Chair seems warm, blanket seems happy, just one thing missing. . .oh, yeah. Goodnight."

"Freak of sideshow proportions."

"I love you, too."

"Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry."

"Shh, the chair is trying to sleep," Lorelai said sleepily.

"Mom, you would tell me if something happened between you and Luke tonight, right?"

Lorelai opened her eyes. The kiss thing, which she had tried not to think about after leaving Luke earlier, came back to mind. She felt her face turning red. Had she really kissed Luke? _Oh no no no no no, I will not start this now. I shouldn't be thinking about Luke… just stay focused on Rory. _

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Luke… when we came back from the hospital we passed by the diner, and he stared at our jeep for a long time."

"Nothing happened between me and Luke."

"Mom, did you fight?"

"No."

"Mom!" said Rory doubtfully.

"Ok, yes, we fought."

"Oh mom! What did you tell him?"

"Hmm... I told him to go to hell."

"NO!"

"Hey! I wasn't alone in that and I was desperate! I needed to yell at someone. The someone should have been Jess, but I couldn't find him so I just yelled at his uncle instead."

"Mom!"

"It's not bad, we are... we made up, I apologized, he apologized, everybody apologized, everything is good."

"And that's all?"

Lorelai hesitated a bit before replying: "That's all. It's late. Go to sleep. You had a big night... and so did I."

"Night mom, I love you."

"I love you too, honey."

A bit reassured about her daughter, Lorelai settled comfortably in the chair and fell asleep.

Lorelai woke up very stiff. Sleeping in a chair wasn't the best idea, and all the thoughts rolling around in her head didn't really help her sleep well. When she turned around in the chair, she felt someone next to her. She opened her eyes, half asleep, but quickly woke up when she realized that there really was someone asleep on the chair next to her.

Luke. Luke was there, sound asleep, sitting on one chair, his foot propped on another. _"How can he sleep so peacefully in that position?... Wait a minute! What the hell is he doing here?"_

"Luke," she whispered, nudging him a bit.

"What? What's happening?" Luke replied, startling awake.

"Shhh, come on," she said, taking his hand in hers and leading him into the kitchen slowly to not wake up Rory.

The feeling of Lorelai's hand in his felt familiar to him. It reminded him of earlier that night, when he had Lorelai in his arms, he caressed her hair. He kissed her… No, Lorelai Gilmore had kissed _him_, but why?

"What... what are you doing here Luke?" Lorelai's voice brought Luke back from his thoughts.

"I just wanted to know how Rory was, but everything was dark. I threw some rocks at your window but you didn't answer."

"You threw rocks at my window?"

"Uh, yeah… I was worried about Rory, I thought you might stop by the diner when you came back from the hospital, so when you drove by without stopping I thought that maybe Rory wasn't okay."

Oh no. Rory was just a little bit dizzy from the meds they gave her," _and also because I kissed you, Lorelai _added to herself.

"Okay, well, I'm sorry to barge in like this, but the back door was open and …well sorry... I should have come at a more appropriate time. But I had some stuff to take care of...with..."

"Thank you for coming." Lorelai cut his rant short, looking at him very gratefully.

"You're welcome," Luke replied with a sincere smile.

The silence that followed seemed to last forever before they both started to speak at the same time

"Luke..."

"Lorelai..."

They both let out an awkward laugh.

_Oh my god, this situation is so weird. Please let him speak first_, Lorelai said to herself, so sure that Luke would ask for some kind of explanation about the kiss.

"You go first," she said.

"Hmm… okay." He paused and said with a sigh, "I sent Jess away."

"What?" She asked, absolutely disappointed about what Luke just said; On the one hand she was disappointed because she hadn't expected to hear about Jess, and on the other hand because she wasn't sure about what "I sent Jess away" meant.

"I... sent Jess away."

"Luke, no."

"In fact he wanted to leave town."

" Oh Luke, no."

"It's just better like this. It will be better," he said swallowing hard, "It will be better for everybody."

"Luke - is it because of what I said earlier?"

"..."

"Luke?"

"Well, let's just say that I didn't really ask him to stay."

"Luke! I didn't really mean what I said earlier, you know? I was... I was sad and panicked and lost. I didn't know what I was saying; I just said the first thing that came to mind."

"But you meant it, didn't you?"

"... ," Lorelai stayed quiet, staring, at the floor.

"That's what I thought," he said, making a move to the front door.

"Luke, no! I'm sorry. I know it's not Jess's fault and even less yours, but it's true that I meant some of the stuff I said. You should have asked me before asking Rory to help Jess, and you shouldn't have left them alone in the diner."

"They are 17 years old; they are able to take care of themselves without breaking their arms."

"Apparently not. Listen, Luke," she said coming closer to touch is arm. "I would be lying if I said that Jess is my favorite person in Stars Hollow, and you know that, but that's no reason to send him back to New York."

"It was his choice," Luke managed to say, his eyes looking at the floor, totally distracted by Lorelai's hand which was still gently but firmly holding his arm.

"But you should have stopped him. Can you imagine how sad Rory is going to be when she finds out that Jess is gone?"

"I... I didn't think about it! Idiot!"

"Hey!" She said taking his jaw in her hand to force him to look her in the eye. "You are not an idiot. Everything is going to be all right, I promise."

Lorelai's hand was still on his face, but her touch had changed into a slow caress. Their eyes hadn't left each other's since Lorelai started to speak. They were saying more in this simple look than had been said in a lifetime. Every stolen moment, every interrupted kiss, every unspoken word was now coming to light. Lorelai broke eye contact first, but only to look at Luke's lips.

Luke couldn't believe the situation he was in now. He knew perfectly well what was going to happen, and he knew that Lorelai knew it too. Slowly, simultaneously, they closed the space between them and their lips met.

Luke had dreamt about this moment for years. The moment when he would finally be able to kiss Lorelai Gilmore. And he was doing it with passion, his body tight against hers, his lips caressing and tasting Lorelai's, his eyes closed. He had never experienced something like this before, never in his whole life had felt so good. It was too good to be true, too good to last forever and he knew it.


	2. Broken nose, broken heart

Sorry it took so long. Thanks for the reviews. Don't forget, English isn't our first langage

**Chapter 2: Broken nose, broken heart!**

There was a knock at the door. The visitor came into the house without waiting for an answer. Luke and Lorelai pulled away from each other, both totally confused.

"Lor."

"Christopher?" Lorelai exclaimed, still a bit confused about what had just happened between her and Luke. She was also surprised to see Christopher, who had just walked in and was hugging her tightly.

Lorelai pulled away from his hug and looked at him strangely.

"What are you doing here?" Lorelai asked.

"I drove here as fast as I could, and I went to the hospital but you guys had already left so I tried your cell phone but all I got was the voice mail so I came here and as I saw the lights were still on. I thought that you and Rory were still awake... but apparently I wasn't exactly right." Chris said quickly, ending with a cold look in Luke's direction.

"Oh well... no." Actually Rory was a bit dizzy with all the meds, and...uh... Luke came over to see if we needed anything." Lorelai answered. _And to kiss me?_ she thought, still confused about what had happened earlier.

"Did you find that kid?"

"Jess?" Lorelai asked, looking at Luke. What an awkward situation for him, she thought.

"Jess, dead meat, whatever his name is!"

"Oh, Chris, listen..."

"I think I'll go now," Luke said, feeling really out of place. He really didn't want to hear what Chris had to say about Jess. He also didn't want to make Lorelai more uncomfortable about the situation than she already was.

"Bye," Christopher said without looking at him.

Lorelai didn't want Luke to leave, but she let him go. Even though it hurt, she thought it was the best thing to do.

"How is she doing?" Chris asked without noticing the confusion on Lorelai face.

"She is in a cast."

"I know."

"The doctor said she'll be fine, it will come off in a couple of weeks. When Rory called me tonight and said the word hospital, I just legitimately thought I was having a heart attack, and let me tell you, it was not fun. It could have been so much worse."

"But it's not. Rory is okay, stop worrying about her."

"I know. That's also what Luke told me just after the accident"

"Just after?"

"Uh... yeah...well. While I was waiting for Rory to finish the X-rays, I went to see him."

"Are you together?"

"I beg you pardon? What make you think such a thing?" Lorelai was trying to blush.

Too many questions were running through her mind right now. What sort of relationship did she have with Luke? What did that kiss mean? What were his feelings for her? And what were her feelings for him?

"Well the fact that you went to see him while your only daughter is in the hospital is a pretty good hint." Chris answered.

"Luke and I are... we are... not together. We are good friends."

"So you ran to see your friend when our daughter was in the hospital instead of staying with her?"

"I was upset."

"And?"

Lorelai sighed before answering.

"Jess is Luke's nephew"

"WHAT?"

"Please Chris, calm down."

"You are saying that this little delinquent who almost killed my daughter is the nephew of this irresponsible lumberjack"

"What! Luke isn't a lumberjack."

"He looks like it to me."

"Stop it! Luke is great; he was always there when Rory and I needed him. He feeds us, protects us, he always fixes stuff in the house. He is anything but an irresponsible lumberjack!"

"You defend him pretty strongly for someone who is just a good friend."

"This is none of your business."

"When my daughter is involved, yes this is my business. It doesn't matter anyway; I'm going to kick this little bastard's ass. He will learn what happens to people who hurt my daughter." Chris said as he walked towards the door.

"Chris, No!" Lorelai shouted after him, but it was too late. Chris was already in his Volvo driving towards the town... towards Luke's diner.

"Mom?"

Rory was still a bit dizzy, but she was sure that she heard her father's voice.

"Mom?"

Lorelai, worried to hear Rory calling, ran into her daughter's room.

"What's wrong Rory? Are you in pain? I'm calling the doctor right now."

"Mom stop. I'm okay. Wasn't that dad's voice that I heard few seconds ago?"

"Uh... actually yes. He came to see how you were doing."

Lorelai felt a strange feeling in her stomach when she saw the smile on Rory's face. This smile was saying it all. Her daughter needed her dad and she missed him.

"Where is he?"

"I sent him to Doose's buy some coffee. Go back to sleep honey. You can see him in the morning."

Rory didn't need much time to fall asleep again. She was exhausted from all the emotion, activity, and medication.

After checking on Rory to be sure she had everything she needed and to put the phone next to her, Lorelai took the keys to the Jeep and drove as fast as she could to Luke's.

When Chris stormed into the diner like a tornado, Luke was drinking a beer, sitting on a table, thinking about the night's events.

"Where is he?"

"Wow, what are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for your nephew, the delinquent."

"Jess isn't here," Luke answered, trying to stay calm.

"No?" Chris asked angrily. "Where is he then? Somewhere in town stealing another car?"

"Okay, calm down."

"Or maybe he's out somewhere breaking another innocent girl's arm, just for fun?"

Luke was trying really hard to control his temper. "Okay, first calm down. And second, I told you Jess isn't here."

"Where is he then?"

"Not here!"

"You have no idea where he is, right?"

"I know exactly where he is."

"Then tell me!"

"This is none of your business."

"You have no clue where he is, and you don't know because you are too irresponsible to raise a kid. This is all your fault!"

Luke couldn't stand it anymore. He couldn't restrain himself any further, and he began to shout out everything he had on his mind and in his heart.

"**_You want to know where he is? I'll tell you where he is! With his mother in New York! I sent him there after he hurt a young girl that I really love, and after I almost lost the woman who I care about more than my own life, a woman who has been my best friend for years! And who are you to tell me that I don't know how to raise a kid. You were never there for Rory or Lorelai when they needed you. You weren't here when Dean broke Rory's heart last year. You weren't here to congratulate her when she was accepted at Chilton. You want to know who was there? I was there. I congratulated her; I kicked Dean's ass; I brought the ice for sixteenth birthday party. "_**Luke finally stopped to take a few deep breaths and calm down a little bit.

He started again calmly, quietly, and very matter of factly, looking Chris straight in the eye. "I was there for them and I will always be there when they will need me. You will run away again and break their hearts and then come back when you wan..."

Luke didn't have the time to finish his sentence before Chris's fist hit him hard on the nose. Luke, unprepared for Chris's punch, fell on the floor.

"Luke!" both men heard, as Chris turned to see Lorelai jumping out of the jeep and running to the diner.

Luke took few seconds to clear his head and stop himself from hitting Chris back. When he finally opened his eyes, he only saw Lorelai running and yelling at Chris.

"What the hell are you doing? Are you crazy?"

"He... he..."

"No matter what he did or said and only if he hit you first, and the fact that you aren't flat on your back on the floor shows he didn't, you didn't have any reason to hit him!

"He insulted me!"

"And if you want my opinion, you probably deserved it!" She said kneeling near Luke. "Are you okay?" she asked him.

"I'm fine," Luke said, holding his nose. As he pulled his hand away, he noticed that he was bleeding. "Crap".

"You should be ashamed, Chris!" Lorelai said.

"Lorelai, it's okay." Luke said quietly.

"No Luke, it's not okay. He shouldn't have hit you like that!"

" No, Lorelai. I mean it's okay… I can yell at him by myself."

"Oh okay…" she said smiling at him when she suddenly noticed the blood. "Oh Luke, you are bleeding! Let me help you." She gave him her hand.

"Lorelai, my nose is bleeding, I'm not an invalid," he said, finally putting himself on his feet.

"But you may have a concussion or something," she said putting a hand on his hair and caressing his cheek, her eyes lost in his.

Luke was living a moment that he never thought he would ever see. Lorelai was looking at him with more love in her eyes than he had ever dreamt about. He caressed her hair too and said smiling: "I'm okay."

"**_Don't tell me you two are together!"_** Chris interrupted them.

"What's your problem? Why do you care about who I'm dating or not? You have no say about my love life!"

"But Lorelai, he works in a diner!"

"He owns a diner."

"But... but..."

"But what? Huh? Luke works hard, and he's done it all by himself. He is always there when I need him. You are not even able to buy a book for your daughter without your credit card getting declined!"

"So what? Is it about money? Everything we've been through together doesn't matter anymore? All those moments still mean something, right?"

Luke was standing between them and right now he would pay a lot to not be here. Even though Lorelai had been engaged to Max, Luke knew that Chris was the one who would always have a place in Lorelai's heart. That hurt him the most. Luke was scared that Lorelai would forgive Chris for everything he'd done in the past, and that he have to stand there and watch it happen without being able to do anything about it.

"Of course, Chris. It still means something."

POW !

It was like a second hit for Luke. Hearing Lorelai words to Chris hurt far more than any punch that Chris could throw.

"If I say that what happened meant nothing, that means that Rory is nothing," Lorelai said.

"So...

"Let me talk. Of course what happened between you and me still means something, but it's in the past. We were teenagers…we aren't teenagers anymore. Well, at least, I'm not anymore. I can't keep living a careless teenage relationship. I need to live my adult life."

"Do you love him?" Chris suddenly asked.

This time, it was Lorelai who felt like she was punched in the stomach. Chris just asked THE question. The one that she had been asking herself for few hours now. Or maybe she'd been asking it for years? Did she have feelings for Luke? And is that feeling love?

"I...I..." suddenly all the confusion turned into an inexplicable anger. "I don't understand why my feelings for Luke, if I have feelings for Luke, are important in this conversation! The point here is that you hit him with no reason!

"His nephew could have killed my daughter tonight!"

"But he didn't! And my kid is peacefully asleep in her bed, and if you had thought for five minutes before running here like an idiot you would be with her in case she woke up and needed something! Luke has nothing to do with this; this accident would have happened even if Luke didn't ask Rory to help Jess study."

"What!"

"_God, Lorelai when will you learn to shut your mouth_," she scolded herself.

"You're kidding me, Lorelai! How can you say that he has nothing to do with that after what you just said! I could have lost my kid tonight..."

And at this moment, Lorelai saw it. The one little tear rolling down Chris's cheek, who quickly wiped it away.

Lorelai saw that even though Chris had acted like a real idiot, he was scared as hell. Even if he hadn't been there during all these years, he loved his daughter.

When she realized how much Chris cared about his daughter she suddenly calmed down and took a deep breath.

"Will you be okay?" she asked Luke.

" Yeah, nothing is broken..." _except maybe my heart, _he added to himself.

"Let's go home. Rory might need something," she said to Chris.

She looked for a last time at Luke and closed the door without a word.


End file.
